Shooting coach Sunny Thomas passes away

Kochi: Sunny Thomas, the man who took Indian shooting to new heights as a national coach, died in Uzhavoor in Kottayam district of Kerala on Wednesday after a cardiac arrest. He was 84.
In the mid-90s, when Thomas stated that Indian shooters would go on to break the hegemony of Chinese shooters on the global stage, there were quite a few raised eyebrows. India may not have toppled the Chinese as Thomas predicted, but the birth of the new millennium saw our national shooters enjoying a golden run.
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It started with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s historic silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics, followed by Abhinav Bindra’s groundbreaking gold at Beijing. Four years later, Vijay Kumar and Gagan Narang won a silver and bronze in London.
Soon after, Thomas stepped down from his role as national coach. During his almost two-decade-long stint from 1993 to 2012, Indian shooters accumulated 108 gold, 74 silver, and 53 bronze medals in international competitions spread across the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games.
More than a coach, Thomas was a mentor to many of India’s top shooters. “He was more than a coach. He was a mentor, guide, and father figure to generations of Indian shooters. His belief in our potential and his relentless dedication to the sport laid the foundation for India’s rise in international shooting. He played a big role in my early years, and I’ll always be grateful for his support and guidance,” Bindra wrote on his X handle.
Thomas was bestowed with the Dronacharya Award in 2001.